Beth Rodden

Beth Rodden has been a fixture in the climbing community ever since she walked into her local climbing gym at the age of 14. She was part of the first generation of kid climbers in the 90's and spent her first six years competing and podium'ing at National and World Cup events, earning the title of four time Junior National Champion. After high school she "took a year off" of college to focus on outdoor climbing and went on her first expedition to Madagscar with an all star female team led by the legendary Lynn Hill. She quickly realized that she wanted to spend her entire time climbing and never went back to college.

Over the next decade she focused all of her energy to pushing the sport forward. In doing so, she became the first woman to establish a 5.14b with her ascent of The Optimist and established Yosemite's hardest traditional climb with Meltdown 5.14c. She also was the first woman to free climb three routes on El Cap and climb many other notable climbs in the Valley.

For the past decade, Beth has been working on reframing some of the tired beliefs in the climbing community around body image, inner dialogue, and mental health. If she's not climbing in Yosemite or in the local gym, she's working with leading companies to help make the outdoor industry a more welcoming place. Beth's inspiring memoir, "A Light Through the Cracks: A Climber's Story" was published in May, 2024.